Living Our Stories: Tarot and Tea for Gemini Season
Welcome to Gemini Season! Join me as I explore tarot practices and herbal allies for the twelve seasons of the zodiac (and you can learn more about this series over here).
With the change to the season of Gemini, we meet the first Air sign of the zodiac, having already traveled through the fiery energy of Aries and the grounding strength of Taurus. In the southern hemisphere, Gemini marks the last period before we enter autumn, and in the northern hemisphere, Gemini carries us through the end of late spring into summer. In astrology, Gemini is known as a mutable sign which tells us that we are dealing with energy that is changing and adaptable (Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces are also mutable signs). In many ways, we are living in intensely Gemini times with social media, perpetual news cycles, and more information (and disinformation) being accessed with greater ease by large parts of the population more than ever.
Gemini is a sign of duality, its symbols the sacred twins, but its symbol could easily be a double-edge sword as the same words and stories which liberate can also cut down and oppress. With Gemini we have the opportunity to explore the stories we're telling, what we're being told, what we are perceiving (and the lenses by which we're looking) and how we're being perceived in turn. So super simple stuff, right? Fortunately, Gemini holds plenty of paths of wisdom that we can take.
Living Stories
Gemini Season Tarot Spread
One of the greatest gifts of Gemini is its ability to adapt. While Gemini is traditionally associated with the respiratory system, arms, and hands, I also associate the sign with the neuroplasticity of our brains. We tell ourselves and are told so many stories about who we are, our capabilities, what it is possible to achieve, how we've already failed, the burdens of our ancestors, the hopelessness of our descendants, and so on throughout our lives. Combine that with traumatic experiences and these stories can carve deep neural pathways in our brains that can begin to feel unmovable and unrepairable. (1) For many, one of the important steps of healing from trauma is moving from telling one version of a story about ourselves that feels unquestionably true (i.e. "I'm broken and worthless") to something which is more authentic and supportive of our wellbeing (i.e. "My worth is unquestionable, my wholeness secure"). Here is where the storytelling gifts of Gemini and its ability to adapt and change can support us.
Gemini asks us, "What is the story you want to tell?"
The following spread is about helping us connect with our living story, whether we're processing personal traumas, dealing with the reverberations of collective trauma, connecting with our inner child or just doing the work of exploring our own stories, whatever emotions they evoke, with the goal of feeling more empowered by what story we're telling about ourselves.
While tarot spreads are wonderful tools of self-exploration, you deserve to receive professional therapeutic support when exploring difficult and challenging experiences and I hope you access help through the growing number of mental health services available. You deserve to be held, whole and holy, as you process through what it is you have lived through.
Card 1. That Which Is Being Spoken
What are you saying about yourself? If you want you can pull a card for what you're saying to yourself (inner dialogue, etc) and another for what you're saying about yourself to others. If a challenging card comes up here it can be a reflection that the story you're telling isn't in alignment with your inner truth and desires, indicating that you might need more support moving forward when it comes to affirming and empowered self-belief and expression.
Card 2. That Which Is Being Heard
This card highlights the stories about you that are the most persistent in your life. These might be cultural stories, opinions that you've adopted from social media, stories from parents, teachers, peers, and so on.
Cards 3 & 4. The Living Story
Instead of casting these cards as you usually would, you are going to look through the deck and purposefully choose two cards that symbolize the story that you want to be telling. Of course, if you're feeling fatigued with decisions, you can still cast these cards by shuffling and a random draw, but if you have the energy I encourage you to choose them with intention. If you're looking for some guidance, these cards might address the obstacles of the previous two cards. After you choose these cards proceed to read them as you would any other card in a spread as cards describing a living story that wants to be told.
Card 5. A Message For Gemini Season
A general message, signs to pay attention to, and perhaps next steps to take as we move into Gemini season.
Bonus Card: That Which Guards the Lungs
If you feel connected with the philosophy of astroherbology you can pull an additional card to help you understand the current energies of your lungs, experiences and energetic ones, and what tension or wisdom you might be keeping there. I encourage you to take a somatic approach with this card - when you pull the card, first observe before rushing to analysis, following the feelings and sensations that it evokes from your body to understand its meaning.
A Tea for Gemini Season
How do we nourish the energy of Gemini? The energy of Gemini challenges the quickness of Aries, and while their speed can be welcome when we're trying to solve a problem, express ourselves or communicate a new idea, most times Gemini energy benefits from remedies that softens and relaxes. Gemini is also the guardian of the lungs, the arms, the hands, and the nervous system (click here for a few list of traditional correspondences of Gemini) and I've included herbs which also support these body systems.
Peppermint (Mentha piperita) is a wonderful plant ally that meets us where we're at when it comes to energy - it soothes and relaxes when we're too overstimulated but energizes and enlivens when we're feeling sluggish. Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) is my favorite herb to help nourish our nervous system while quieting the noisy, distracting, and chattering part of our brain. My favorite nervous system tonic is Milky Oat (Avena sativa) and a plant ally I often recommend to Gemini folk who tend to overwork their nervous systems. Combined, these three herbs help us to welcome in the season of Gemini with calm so that we can reap the benefits of clarity that this season can bring.
To make your tea, combine the following herbs:
2 parts Peppermint (Mentha piperita)
½ part Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora)
1 part Milky Oat (Avena sativa)
These proportions are only suggested guidelines, so feel free to play around with them to your liking. As you make your tea, slow down, breathe deep, and infuse the blend with your intentions for the season (or whenever you’re drinking this tea to connect with the energy of Gemini). If you’re looking for more breathwork practices to help you connect with the energy of the season, come this way.
Seasonal Reflections
What does the land feel like, look like, smell like this season?
What is coming to the surface from within me?
What is receding within me?
What am I feeling grateful for?
What am I grieving for or feeling challenged by?
What am I feeling inspired and where is it calling me to this season?
What am I calling to me?
What am I called to give?
♊️
I’ve been writing about the intersections between plants, stars, and planets for years, so if you’re feeling inspired to keep reading about all things astroherbalism, check out the Gemini Astroherbology Profile as a great next step. For those wanting some visual inspiration, I have a whole collection of Gemini Season images for you. If you’re looking for more information on using tarot as a tool of healing, come this way. And I’ve also written about my favorite plant-themed tarot decks (tarot is a very Gemini sort of divination system).
You can also learn about how to set-up your own Gemini season apothecary full of spring remedies.
Wherever the season of Gemini finds you may all lines of communication and clarity be open to you, all paths full of the right sort of people, places, and creatures!
This post was made possible through patron support.
❤︎ Thanks, friends. ❤︎
Notes
(1) If you're seeking resources for healing from this sort of trauma, EMDR is a well-researched form of therapy that helps folks recover and move on from the distress of trauma. This is the one form of therapy that I have recommended to clients again and again over the years, so if you're feeling like you're ready to get some support for your experiences of trauma, I hope you seek out the right practitioner for you. You deserve to be supported and your suffering eased.
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